It was nearly the perfect World Cup for Hugo Lloris.
The Tottenham goalkeeper had made some magnificent saves throughout the competition, especially the one against Uruguay, and his team were 4-1 in a World Cup final, and then he made a mistake.
With the ball arriving in his feet, Lloris tries to take the it past an onrushing Mario Mandzukic, only for the Croatian striker to tackle him and send the ball in the back of the net.
Fortunately for Lloris, the three goal cushion previously created by his teammates meant the goal wasn’t crucial, but it’s still a move that will undoubtedly earn him a spot on a few World Cup blooper reels in the future.
In an interview with Sud-Ouest, he said: “It’s a mistake, but it takes nothing away from the fantastic World Cup he had. He’s picked up reflexes at Tottenham, where Pochettino asks him to play with the ball in his feet, to play from the back.
“It’s not a lapse of concentration or him relaxing. I think he’s fully focused. Maybe in his head, he’s thinking ‘Sh.., we’ve done it!’. He wanted to play, it’s part of the risks of that philosophy. He got caught, but it doesn’t take away from what he did.”
At the end of the day, Lloris won’t care won’t bit, and neither will the millions of French supporters who were celebrating around the world on Sunday and Monday.
